Acupuncture has been proven to not only significantly help relieve constipation…
…but it actually helps relieve chronic, severe constipation not responding to other treatments!
On top of that, acupuncture was shown to have long term, persistent effects in helping to solve constipation.
Woot!
Why aren’t we hearing about this (yet still seeing endless plugs for Metamucil and fiber bulking agents as well as new Rx drugs such as Linzess and Amitiza on TV?)
Because holistic remedies never get the same press that over-the-counter and prescription remedies do.
But that’s what you have me for!
I only share uplifting, freely available, holistic, healthy and supportive information with you all… so subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss out and skip all the scare tactics and negative health information floating out the on the web.
Details of the study:
(recently published on
Sept 12th, 2016 in the Annals of Internal Medicine)
- over 1,000 patients with chronic, severe functional constipation participated in a 8 week trial
- half (539 patients) received acupuncture and half (another 539 patients) received sham acupuncture (acupuncture at non-acupoints) for 28 sessions over the course of two months
- researchers analzyed data in bowel habits, tracking the number of complete spontaneous bowel movements during the two month treatment period and a three month follow up period
The results:
- patients who received acupuncture had almost double the amount complete spontaneous bowel movements than those who received acupuncture at non-acupuncture sites.
- twice as many participants had spontaneous bowel movements at least 3 or more times a week in the treatment group than in the sham treatment group
- the statistically significant boost in bowel movements persisted for the entire 3 month follow up period even after the acupuncture treatments ended
- patients receiving acupuncture also reported improved quality of life and general well being.
In a world where constipation medication side effects read like this:
“LINZESS can cause serious side effects, including diarrhea, the most common side effect, which can sometimes be severe. Diarrhea often begins within the first 2 weeks of LINZESS treatment. Stop taking LINZESS and call your doctor right away if you get severe diarrhea during treatment with LINZESS. Go to the emergency room or call your doctor if you develop unusual or severe stomach-area (abdominal) pain, especially if you have bloody or black stools.”
and:
“AMITIZA (lubiprostone) is not for everyone. If you know or suspect you have a bowel blockage, do not take AMITIZA. If you are unsure, your healthcare provider (HCP) should evaluate your condition before starting AMITIZA. You should not take AMITIZA if you have severe diarrhea. Within an hour of taking AMITIZA, a sensation of chest tightness and shortness of breath may occur. The most common side effects of taking AMITIZA (24 mcg) twice daily are nausea, diarrhea, headache, abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and gas for patients treated for CIC; nausea and diarrhea for patients treated for Opioid-Induced Constipation. AMITIZA has not been studied in pregnant women. Based on animal studies, AMITIZA may cause fetal harm. AMITIZA should only be used during pregnancy if the potential benefits justify the potential risk to the fetus. If you are pregnant or become pregnant while being treated with AMITIZA, talk to your HCP to evaluate the risks to the fetus. Tell your HCP if you are nursing and monitor infants for diarrhea. Tell your HCP if you have liver problems.”
…it’s awesome to know that acupuncture is a safe, holistic healing modality that doesn’t put any toxic chemicals into your body and truly WORKS for boosting regularity.
Moving your bowels is important on an energetic level, because this is an important way that we process and release old, unwanted, toxic emotions from our body.
Out with the old, in with the new.
Can’t poop?
That energetic release process gets S-L-O-W-E-D…. D-O-W-N… way down.
You can fix it naturally, though.
Here are 10 more ways, beyond acupuncture, that will holistically help you out:
1. Water
Recent medical studies reveal that drinking water has more of an impact on encouraging healthy bowel movements than fiber supplement or exercise.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say fiber supplements clog people up more often than they help.
Step away from the fiber supplements and instead drink drink drink water and more water.
In general, a constipated person is a dehydrated person.
You can fix that right now — go grab a glass of water.
(I remove the fluoride from my drinking water… and this blog post explains why!)
2. Walking
The way we encourage the bowels to start waking back up post-operatively after bowel surgery is to get the patient up out of bed and walking the hallways.
Walking increases bowel mobility, which goes hand in hand with producing a bowel movement.
If you want more frequent bowel movements, you gotta move more frequently, simple as that.
Evaluate if you are walking enough each day and resolve to find more ways to walk further, today.
3. Abdominal Massage
Every morning before I even get out of bed I do two things.
1) I say a prayer of gratitude for my life and for my children.
2) I give my tummy a quick abdominal massage.
Giving your stomach a gentle but deep, stimulating massage will wake up your bowels and is almost guaranteed to ensure a morning bowel movement for you later on that morning.
First, get up and drink a big glass of water. Then head back to bed and lay down on your back.
Just gently rub your stomach in one big clockwise circle for a few minutes and you will give your gut peristalsis a nudge in the right direction, literally.
4. Omega 3 fatty acids
Any excuse to get in more Omega 3s, fish oil (or krill oil or castor oil or flax seed oil or algae oil…) supplements will not only help soothe the inflammation in your body from head to toe, inside and out…
…but as an added bonus it will soften your bowel movements as well.
Just take enough fish oil capsules (start with 500mg daily and go up to a maximum of 2,000 mg daily) to produce soft and easy bowel movements.
If yours are too soft, just back down until you have titrated the perfect dose for you.
(Here is the krill oil supplement I am using right now…)
5. Magnesium
Like Vitamin D, many of us are Magnesium deficient and don’t even know it.
Magnesium supports nerve, muscle and heart function as well as a host of other biological functions and yep, like Omega 3 fatty acids, one of the welcome side effects of supplementing your magnesium level is softer, more frequent bowel movements.
Start with 50mg daily and go up to 400 mg if necessary to find relief from your constipation.
(Here is the Magnesium supplement I use specifically to help soften stools…)
6. Probiotics
Shown to have a huge mind/body connection… probiotics are still underutilized in medicine today (read my blog post on probiotics to find out more here.)
From eliminating colic in infants, to decreasing eczema flares in children to decreasing anxiety and depression in adults, probiotics are super supportive to our entire body, not just our gut.
One thing is for sure, probiotics are necessary for our digestion and health.
So if you are constipated, I can assure you that your bowels could use the support of more probiotics.
(Here is the world’s best probiotic supplement…)
7. Digestive Enzymes
If your body could use a digestive boost to help break down foods, decrease abdominal distention and pain, and regulate your bowel movements better… give digestive enzymes a try.
Often as we get older our body gets sluggish about producing enough digestive enzymes, or the ones we do produce are hampered by gall bladder sludge.
Taken with meals, some patients find that digestive enzymes make a world of difference, decreasing abdominal pain after meals, decreasing bloating/distention, and smoothing out the entire digestive process.
(The digestive enzymes I recommend most are right here.)
8. Praise Your Poop
I’m serious! It took me years to release chronic constipation… and here’s how I did it: an energy healer once told me to give yourself a mental “high-5″ every time you poop because you are literally DUMPING off old unwanted emotional baggage.
Out with the old, in with the new.
It’s so true. Every time you poop, know you are unloading outdated baggage, old mind-frames that no longer serve you, and allowing room for the new.
Go you!
Look at pooping as the powerful release that it is!
9. Orgasm
Getting things flowing in our root chakra as a whole will help stimulate the release of your bowels as well.
If you can’t get the bowels to open, you can encourage the flow by stimulation of another kind… orgasm.
While feeling constipated sure isn’t the sexiest feeling in the world… next time you want to increase the flow of *release* through your body, give having an orgasm a try.
(Want other ways to stimulate the flow of release through your root chakra? Read this blog post here…)
10. Squatting when you go…
Squatting is actually the right way to have a bowel movement.
The modern toilet (while doing us lots of favors in sanitation) has done us absolutely NO favor in facilitating healthy bowel movements.
Hope over and read this article right now — it’s important — and find out why squatting is the ultimate solution for constipation.
Not sure how to squat while you poop?
Me either.
Enter Squatty Potty.
Give this a try — it just might change your life.
I hope these ideas and tools and resources for further reading have helped support your next healthy bowel movement…
…if it does, I will consider my time writing this blog post a major success!
To your bowel mobility and FREEDOM!
xoxoxo, Laura